Cornelius was introduced to me back in high school as “Japan’s Beck.” This is pretty much true.

Cornelius – aka Tokyo-born Keigo Oyamada – was a music producer whose 1997 album, Fantasma, is one of the most interesting records to come out of the Japanese underground without being totally alienating.

That said, a lot of his music is pretty experimental… which isn’t to say it’s not awesome:

Cornelius is married to musician Takeko Minekawa, who we’ll meet in next week’s “Ongakuyoubi.”